


that's not much help

by ayykaashi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, akakage, also akaashi in ponytail p ls, dorkaaashi, dorkageyama, kageaka, kiyoko and lev are here, part timer librarian!akaashi, this is attempted fluff goodbye
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 16:37:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7113673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayykaashi/pseuds/ayykaashi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What book exactly are you looking for about animals?"</p><p>“Something with a blue cover."</p><p>“Kageyama-san, you’re going to have to be a bit broader on that.”</p><p>“Blue cover…hardbound?”</p><p>He resisted the urge to face palm in front of an underclassman. Instead, he opted to sigh, and say, “Follow me, I’ll bring you to the sciences section.”</p><p>kageyama rarepair week // universe: college au!</p>
            </blockquote>





	that's not much help

**Author's Note:**

> i love akakage so much oh my god i might make these a series idk  
> also first time writing kageyama!! idk how to do him jesus but hes aged up here so i used my hcs to write him and canon too idk oops
> 
> its not very obvious theyre in college but they are ok 
> 
> also slightly based on this [ here](http://quoth-the-ravenclaw.tumblr.com/post/134385821929/library-aus-based-off-my-experiences-working-in-a) hehe
> 
> hope y'all enjoy <3 happy kageyama rare pair week!!! yieee

Akaashi got the ladder and leaned it against the bookshelf, making sure the ladder won’t falter later on. He tied back his hair into a tiny pony tail before he placed one foot onto a step. Slowly, hascended up its steps with the books tucked in his arms, and stopped just in the middle of it in order to place said books in their respective slots. He leaned a little to the side and a bit backward to check if the books were in order. He frowned a little when he saw that some books were a bit off by a few numbers, but shrugged. A few numbers off never hurt anybody.

He went down carefully from the ladder, and took a step back to see if all the books were in their proper places. Dark green eyes scanned through the bookshelves from left to right, and felt a throbbing headache begin when his eyes stopped at the rightmost bookshelf. He frowned. ‘That’s a really big gap over there, was it there before?’

He left the ladder on its place. He might need it again later, after all, if there really were books missing there. He made his way to the front desk where the only computer with the database on borrowed books and whatnot, paying no mind to the sounds of pages flipping, some soft sobbing, heads banging on tables, and soft snoring.

Once he was at the front desk, he saw his upperclassman working on the computer. “Shimizu-senpai,” he began with a small nod.

Shimizu looked up from her work and smiled and gave a nod of her own. “What can I help you with, Akaashi-kun? Any of the students bothering you again?”

“Ah no, not really. I’m used to the noises already.” He shrugged. “Actually, I was wondering if the rightmost bookshelf over at the social sciences side really has a big gap, or if someone borrowed the books or something.”

“Social sciences, social sciences…”Shimizu trailed off as she typed on the computer. Then, she stopped and looked back to him. “Oh, someone just came from there earlier. He was carrying a lot of books, and he took them over to the tables near the religion area,” she said, “I’m not really sure if he’ll be borrowing them, though. He didn’t look very happy with all those books.”

“Oh, I see,” Akaashi replied, “Does that mean I should go to him now and ask him if he’s going to borrow them all? Or should I wait for a while first?”

Shimizu chuckled. “It’s okay, Akaashi-kun. We have around another,” she checked her watch, “fifty minutes until closing time. If he hasn’t left in thirty minutes, you can go bother the poor boy.”

Akaashi let out a smile at the little grin on her face. “Will do, senpai.” He said, “Well, I guess I’ll go back to shelving the books now. If you’ll excuse me.”

He gave a little bow, and Shimizu gave a small wave of her own before returning to her work.

Akaashi walks around the library, his footsteps barely making any sound—a feat he managed to accomplish thanks to learning how to sneak around with his former teammates—as he searched around for books on carts, or on the sides of the tables.

So far, he hasn’t seen any stray books. Instead, he was actually seeing some fellow students making life easier for him by returning the book themselves. Some were having a hard time with the higher shelves, but luckily they’ve just recently added more ladders to their supplies and not to mention, Lev just came back from dinner and was now able to help the others.

He stops when he sees a book lying on the floor. It looked like it was messily thrown there, which would be quite weird because Akaashi didn’t hear anything being thrown earlier. He picked it up and checked its spine, trying to see from where it was from. He raised a brow when he read over the spine. ‘From the technology section? How’d it get so far here?’

With a sigh, he made his way to the Technology section of the library, and placed back the book. After that, he continued his rounds in the library, checking for more books. Occasionally, he’d stop at different desks to wake up those who were sleeping in order to remind them that “we’ll be closing soon, and we can’t afford to lock in any more sleeping students” with a small amused smile as he watched some of them fumble for their things, while others looked back at him, still in a daze.

He stopped in his tracks when his watch began to light up, signifying there were around thirty minutes left until closing time. His mind went back to the big gap in the social sciences section, and made his way to the religion section where Shimizu said the guy with all those books were. His steps were quiet—in case loud sounds would frighten the student—but they were brisk in a way, because seriously, he did _not_ want any more people getting stuck here past closing time.

When he reached the religion section, he looked around the tables and saw nobody there. ‘Oh, he must’ve left already,’ he thought. With a shrug, he turned around to walk back to the front desk. However, a sharp familiar sound reached his ears, making him stop in his tracks.

The sound of books hitting the floor all at once.

Akaashi turned on his heel and walked back to the religion secton, passing through the big bookshelves as he tried to find the source of the sound. He weaved in and out of the bookshelves, and came to halt when he reached the last bookshelf which was plastered to the wall.

On the floor were all the social sciences books missing from that rightmost bookshelf, along with some other books from other classifications. There were also some notebooks, pens, and crumpled up papers thrown in the mix. His eyes trailed from the mess all the way to the boy sitting in front of the bookshelves on the wall, his head bent down as he cradled it in his hands. Akaashi blinked.

“Um, excuse me?” The boy’s head shot up, and Akaashi had a clear view of his bleeding lip and red forehead and nose. “Do you need some help?”

The guy blinked for a moment, looking lost, before his ears slowly started to turn pink. Akaashi was growing a little concerned that maybe this guy got beat up or something, or was bumped into by Lev. He felt his stomach churn as the boy continued staring, not giving any answer—hell, he wasn’t even _blinking_. The first thought Akaashi got was that _‘The library doesn’t have enough funds for his insurance,_ ’ and the second thought was _‘He has really big and striking eyes for a guy.’_

He was knocked out of his thoughts when the boy shook his head with his eyes closed, as if trying to compose himself from something. He then looked back at Akaashi with more determined eyes. “I’m okay! I’m fine, thank you!” He replied, a bit too loud for the library silence. He seemed to realize this and suddenly smacked his hand on his mouth and nose, wincing loudly as he did so.

Akaashi let out a wince too and bent down. “Hey, let me see that,” he said, leaving no room for interjections. The boy let his hand down, wiping his hand on his pants to smear off the blood. Akaashi bit back another wince when he saw more blood on his lips, and some trickling down his nose. He took out his handkerchief—he bit back a small blush when he saw he got the one Bokuto-san got him for Christmas last year, which was dark blue with white owls on it and it _may or may not be_ one of his favorite handkerchiefs—and pressed it against the boy’s lips, not paying attention to his stare.

“What happened here?” Akaashi asked, keeping the handkerchief pressed to the lips in front of him.

The boy averted his eyes, and it took a few seconds for him to reply softly, as if he were mumbling. Akaashi raised a brow. “Could you please repeat that?”

“I said, I was trying to read with the book above my head but I dropped it!” The boy said it in a bit louder, but also a bit more aggressive tone, which was slightly muffled by the handkerchief. He clicked his tongue and sent a glare at the hardbound mini-atlas by his knees. “Stupid book.”

Akaashi let out a snort, making the other boy’s eyes immediately turn to glare at him. “What is it? Is there something wrong with what I said, huh?”

“Yeah, why would you try to read a book above your head?” Akaashi replies, an amused glint in his eyes, “If you do that, you should’ve realized that it could fall sooner or later, especially with your position here.”

The boy blushed in what Akaashi can only think was embarrassment. He didn’t retort to what he said, his glare just got less intense but it was still there. They sat there for a few more seconds, with Akaashi constantly changing the pressure and position of his hand and handkerchief, checking if more blood was still spilling from the guy’s lips. After he deemed it was alright, he switched his attention to his nose, which had a bit more blood than earlier. He let out a low whistle. “What were you reading that you decided to read it from above?” He sends a look to the hardbound book at the side. “Seriously, a hardbound book even?”

“…I don’t even know what I was reading,” he began, “I just got a bunch of books and tried to look through them all to find what I needed, but I failed…”

“So you decided to read it from above because…?”

“I thought it would make me absorb things better.”

Akaashi looked at him straight in the eye. “What.”

The boy blushed again, looking very flustered and very frustrated. “I-I don’t know, okay?! I just wanted to find that book again but I forgot and-ugh, fuck it! Why am I telling you this, anyway?! Fuck!”

Frowning, the part-time librarian pinched his nose hard and pulled it up for a while, making him yelp. “That’s not how you talk to your upperclassmen, you know.” He gently pried his hand off, before putting it back for extra measure, but not as tight.

“...Sorry,” the boy said.

“It’s okay.”

Akaashi and the guy sat in silence, and when Akaashi noted his nose was okay now, he stood up and stretched his back. “Well, I suggested you get yourself checked at the clinic, still. To be safe.”

The boy nodded a bit too fast, still keeping his eyes elsewhere. “Y-Yes, thank you…senpai.”

Akaashi shrugged and picked up the books, shoving them in one arm. The boy fumbled as he tried to stand up, and began to pick up books with him. Akaashi watched him place his things in his bag right after, and he couldn’t help but notice the bag tag hanging from his sling bag. Once they both had all the books, and the guy has shoved all his things, Akaashi glanced at him and checked the spines of the books, “So, most of these are all from the social sciences section right, Kageyama-san?”

The boy nodded, a bit confused. “How did you know my name?”

Akaashi began to walk, and the boy—Kageyama—followed him hastily. “Saw your bag tag.”

“Oh.”

They began to walk to the social sciences section, and Akaashi felt a bit please to know that with this, they’ll finally fill up that big space in the rightmost shelf. Kageyama’s steps were hurried and loud compared to his, and Akaashi was confused why he walked like that. He spared a glance to the underclassman behind him, who flinched when their eyes met. Akaashi looked back to his front, turning to the social sciences area. With Kageyama’s help, they managed to put the books back in their proper places.

Next, they made their way to the languages section, putting back the remaining books. When they finished, Akaashi sighed, and checked his watch. Only ten minutes left until closing. Huh, well at least Kageyama was awake, and not a dying from midterms college student, so it was okay, he guessed.

“Kageyama-san,” Akaashi removed his tie and ran his fingers back into his hair from his forehead as he turned to look to him, “What book, or books, were you looking for exactly?”

The blue-eyed boy turned pink for some reason Akaashi couldn’t comprehend as Akaashi tied his hair back into a low tiny ponytail. Akaashi found it slightly cute, though, as if he were looking at a confused and agitated small animal. Kageyama looked to the side again, “I…I was looking for a book on animals.”

Akaashi raised a brow at that. “I didn’t expect someone like you to look for books on animals.” He ignored the flinch from the younger male. “What book exactly are you looking for about animals?”

“Something with a blue cover.”

“Kageyama-san, you’re going to have to be a bit broader on that.”

“Blue cover…hardbound?”

He resisted the urge to face palm in front of an underclassman. Instead, he opted to sigh, and say, “Follow me, I’ll bring you to the sciences section.”

Kageyama nodded, a strange sparkle forming in his eyes, which Akaashi tried to ignore. They walked to the science section, which was just really nearby. His trained eyes scanned over the books as he walked, stopping at the animals section. He looked the section from down to up and left to right. “Kageyama-kun, was there anything else…remarkable about that book?”

The mentioned male thought for a moment before replying, “It had gold writing on it. And It was covered in plastic.”

“Thank you, that was actually helpful,” Akaashi replied dryly, as he checked the books. He picked a two books that fit the category from the bottom shelf and passed them to Kageyama. He climbed up the ladder and got three books. He went down and handed them over to the currently focused male.

Akaashi watched those blue eyes scan over the covers of all the books, before flipping through all of them in record speed. The air conditioning units have been shut off, meaning the library really was about to close soon. “Kageyama-san, are you—“

“I’m done!” He said a bit too loudly, taking Akaashi by surprise. Kageyama handed three books to him while he held on to the other two. “I’m not sure which one is it from these two, so I’ll take them both!”

“Thank you,” Akaashi replied evenly, before returning one book to the bottom and the other two to the higher shelf. He went back down, and faced the once again sparkling Kageyama, who was looking at the books with some sort of twisted smile, yet having stars (????) in his eyes. “Why were you looking for books on animals, Kageyama-san?”

Kageyama looked up at him, a bit bashful now but still somewhat sparkling. “…I think they don’t like me…but I like them. So I wanted to understand them better.”

Akaashi chuckled, and Kageyama’s eyes grew a bit wider and bluer to Akaashi. “Well then, I hope you don’t get a bloody nose and lip from trying to understand them this time.”

Kageyama burned up again and replied softly, as if he were grumbling, “This is just one time…let it be.”

Before Akaashi could tease the man a little more, a voice rang out from the speakers above. **“The library is closing soon, please finish up your works and come back tomorrow instead. Thank you.”** There was a pause. **“Paging Akaashi Keiji, Akaashi Keiji, please come to the front desk. Thank you.”**

_‘Shimizu-senpai must be wondering where I went. The religion section is pretty secluded after all.’_

Akaashi gave Kageyama a smile. “Let’s get those checked out, shall we? It’s getting late, after all.”

“Ah-um, yes! Yes, Akaashi-senpai!” Kageyama froze up, watching Akaashi nod and take a few steps before he came to, hurriedly trying to keep up with him.

Once they got to the front desk, Akaashi’s ears were metaphorically tired from hearing Kageyama’s heavy footsteps, and practically hearing him fidget and look at everything in the library as if it was his first time ever being in one.  Akaashi bowed to Shimizu. “Sorry, I was with him,” he gestured to Kageyama, “Helping him with some books. You can go now, senpai. I’ll lock up and open up tomorrow morning.”

Shimizu smiled and handed him a key. “Thanks, Akaashi-kun.” She grabbed her bag and gave a wave. “Good luck!”

Akaahi gave a small wave of his own, looking over Kageyama and the now almost-empty library—save for the two of them. He stood behind the desk. “Well then, Kageyama-san, hand over the books and your library card, please.”

Kageyama hurriedly gave the books over before replying, “I don’t have a library card yet, is that okay?”

“Ah, then please give me your ID.”

He fished his ID from his pocket and handed it over. Akaashi scanned it, before typing something onto the computer. After a while, the printer made a soft, buzzing sound, and began printing something. Once it was done, he placed it under a big, square-shaped cutter, and pressed the handle down. A loud _‘click’_ was heard and the handle was lifted. Akaashi raised the new card in his hand. “This is your library card now.”

With the new library card—Akaashi failed to notice the look of sheer awe on Kageyama’s face—in Akaashi’s hands, he began to scan the books’ codes. After doing so, he swiped the new library card into his keyboard, typed a few things, and waited for a while before a _‘ping’_ was heard from the computer. He placed the books on top of each other, and the new card and ID on them. He handed them over to Kageyama, who still looked very surprised, took everything back with shaky hands.

“Here you go. Since you’re borrowing two books, and this seems to be your first time borrowing, you get to keep these books for the whole month. If you fail to return on time, you’ll have to pay up the fine. But since it’s your first time borrowing, if you’re late, you only pay half the prescribed fine.” Akaashi recited. “Any questions?”

The other male still seems to be in a shock, holding the books and the cards at half an arm’s length. Akaashi _swears_ he could feel little happy vibes coming from him. He watches amusedly as Kageyama stares some more, before coming to his senses. What Akaashi didn’t expect was Kageyama to slam the books down, and lean over the front desk and practically lean over it.

“I didn’t know libraries were so nice!” Kageyama practically screamed into his face, “Why didn’t anyone ever tell me this before?!”

Akaashi blinked slowly. “Not many people come to the library nowadays, especially with the onslaught of technology. We’ve been adding more computers and improving our wifi signals and all to accommodate the change.” He shrugged, then a small fond smile came to his face. “Luckily, there are still those who love books, and those who need a quiet space to be in and immediately come here.”

He looked up to Kageyama, who was now looking straight at him from his position. Akaashi felt a bit some tension form around the air, feeling his face heat up a little at the intensity of the other’s eyes—blue really was a good color, oh wow. He watched as Kageyama leaned a bit closer, making him edge backwards a bit. “Kageyama…san?”

That seemed to shock the other out of his stupor, making him stumble backwards. “I-I-uh,” Kageyama waved his hands in the air as he tried to say something coherent, because literally, all Akaashi could understand right now were grumbled words. Kageyama continued on like this for a while, before composing himself with a cough and quickly scrambling for his things. “Uh, hm. Thank you for this. Thank you for helping me too, senpai.”

Akaashi willed that the pinkish hue on his cheeks would die down already. He gave a smile. “Your welcome, Kageyama-san. I hope this isn’t the last of your trips to the library.” His smile grew warmer. “It’s always nice to have genuinely curious people to come in here.”

Kageyama stared at him a bit more before yelping. “Yes! Yes! Yes I will! Thank you!” He bowed over and over again. Then, he stopped, looked at Akaashi with a determined gleam in his eyes, ears very red. “You’ll be here tomorrow morning, right?”

“Ah,” Akaashi blinked. What did that matter to him? “Yes, I will be?”

“First thing in the morning? 11:00am?”

“Kageyama-san, the library opens at 7:00am.”

“7:00am!” Kageyama repeated. He looked down at his books, then looked up again and nodded. Akaashi could see the sparkles again. “Yes! I’ll come back tomorrow! You’re a literature major, right?”

“Yes I am. And uh, that’s great,” Akaashi replied, the smile coming back to his face. He stood up, stretched, and turned off the computer. He made his way to the front doors, Kageyama following his every move. He opened a door open. “Well, you should get going soon, Kageyama-san,” he began, “It’s getting late. Freshmen start classes early, right?”

“Ah, yes, senpai!” Kageyama nodded and followed along. Akaashi closed the main lights, locked the door, and it was then Kageyama spoke, “Senpai? What’s your favorite animal?”

Akaashi pocketed the keys. “Owls, I guess,” he answers. “Why?”

“It’s nothing!”

He shrugged. He passed Kageyama and gave his shoulder a firm grip. “Well, I’ll see you soon. Have a nice night, Kageyama-san.”

Akaashi walked on, not noticing how determined Kageyama looked as he followed his back with his eyes.

The next morning, when the winds were still cold and Akaashi still hasn’t tied his hair up because it was still wet, he walks to the library and sees a figure sitting outside.  Kageyama was outside the library, looking very awake and holding both books he borrowed, with the library card. “Kageyama-san? You’re here early.”

As Akaashi opened the library doors, Kageyama stayed silent. When the doors were fully opened, Akaashi stepped in and opened the lights and switched on all the air conditioning units. “Did you finish these books early, or did you plan to read here in the morning?”  

Kageyama hasn’t replied, but he hands the books over. Akaashi gives a questioning look and Kageyama answers, “I’m done reading them now. I actually need a new book.”

“Oh.” Akaashi nods in acknowledgement and scans the books and takes Kageyama’s card. Their fingers brush and Akaashi feels something surge through his cold fingers when they met even colder ones. He pays it no mind, however, and continued with his job. When he finished, he set the books aside on the table, and stands up. “So, what do you need, Kageyama-san?”

“A library can help everyone and anyone, right?”

Akaashi raises a brow. “Most of the time, yes?”

“Then, a literature book with owls in it.” Kageyama answers with conviction, eyes meeting Akaashi’s. “And a book on feelings, please.”

It took Akaashi a while to realize what Kageyama was talking about, and when he did, his fingers began to fiddle with themselves.

Akaashi would like to think that the pink hues on both of their faces were from the early morning cool breeze (even if he felt very, very war m inside). He coughed and walked away from the desk. “First, let’s get on that literature book first.” He grabs Kageyama’s hands, shocking the younger male. Akaashi looks up at him with a smirk. “So you don’t get lost, okay? This is only your third time here, after all, so you can still get lost. And drop books on your face.”

Kageyama grew darker, and held on tightly, feeling his cold fingers warm up. “Yeah, thanks, senpai.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> i did my best and im mostly happy with this bcs i lvoe this pair so much idek afhgksasbgsa 
> 
> check me out on tumblr i reblog a lot and scream at the tags lmao @ akabanyeh
> 
> hope you enjoyed and have a nice week ahead! <3


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